Achieving Your Goals
You may or may not have a set of written goals. If you do not, then
I strongly urge you to make a written set of goals and clarify what
you want to achieve. Whatever the case, you may be struggling with
achieving your goals in life. In this article, you will learn some
techniques for achieving your goals.
Think of a time in your life when you achieved something you really
wanted. Did you doubt it would happen and believe that you could
not achieve it? Or did you have a solid sense of knowing that it
would happen and doubt never entered into your mind?
It was the second wasn’t it?
When Richard Branson set up Virgin Airways, did he sit in his office
and wonder if it would ever work? Did Bill Gates sit in his office
wondering if anyone would want to buy his Windows product? They
may have done for a little while, but they did not let these doubts
rule them. They knew their plans would work and that they would
be successful.
When working to achieve your goals, you need that unerring sense
of confidence and lack of doubt in yourself. You must Know it is
going to happen and that you will succeed. We are not talking about
thinking you will succeed, believing you will succeed or knowing
you will achieve your goal. They are all intellectual forms of Knowing,
Knowing with a capital K; that solid feeling in the pit of your
stomach that you will make happen and you cannot fail. Expect it
to happen and know there is no other way. It will happen. This Knowing
gives you drive and commitment to see you through to the success
of your goal.
But how do you get this feeling? One of the best and most effective
techniques is visualisation.
You currently use the power of visualisation, probably without
even realising it. Have you ever run through what you are going
to say to someone before you have the conversation? Or seen yourself
in your mind giving a presentation before you give it?
That is the power of visualisation, and it is very
potent. You can use it not only for your goals, but for any aspect
of your life. Visualisation is something most people are unused
to directing. You will find initially that your attention will wander,
but you have to pull it back to the task at hand. It is similar
to building a muscle up through exercise – it takes time to
strengthen it.
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In
this step by step guide you will be shown exactly how to
get what you want from you.
You will get led by the hand through the process of setting
you goals in all areas of your life and then shown powerful
and effective techniques for achieving your goals.
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The exercise for visualising your goals is very simple, and is
as follows.
1) Select the goal that you wish to work with
2) Picture an image of this goal in your mind
3) Visualise yourself attaining your goal. Use all of your senses
– touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste. Really feel your
success with every fibre of your being and Know that your goal is
as good as achieved.
4) Hold this image in your mind for a minimum of 10 minutes –
remain focus and positive. Challenge any doubts that rise and replace
them with positive words and images of success. If you get distracted
or your mind wanders, bring your focus back to your goal.
You can also hold this successful image in your mind as you go
about your day to day business. Keep the image there and focus on
your success. You get what you focus on – and if you focus
on achieving your goal, then you will get it. Visualisation is a
method of programming the subconscious mind for success.
With some goals you may want to keep them private. If you are trying
to get fit and your friends know you have been less than energetic
in the past when you tell them your goal, they will laugh and joke
and not believe you. This doubt and disbelief can affect your belief
in yourself and in your goal, which in turn can lead to failure
to achieve the goal.
It is hard enough to overcome our own doubts and worries without
having to also overcome those of the people around you. Keep any
goals where you may be influenced by others to yourself and let
the people around you see the successful end result.
Affirming Success
Another method for achieving your goals is to use affirmations,
which means you repeat your goal again and again to yourself. This
is another method of programming your subconscious mind, which is
the source of all action.
An affirmation is a sentence or two that is written in a positive
language with definite targets and timescales. A bad affirmation
would be “I want to lose some weight.” Your subconscious
looks at this and since there is no timescale it will not leap into
action. There is also no definite target so your subconscious does
not know what to aim for. How is “some weight” defined?
It is 10 pounds, but also 1 pound and also just 1 ounce.
A good affirmation is “I want to lose 10 pounds by the end
of this year.” This sends the right messages to your subconscious.
It knows that you exactly how much you have to lose (10 pounds)
and when this must be done by (the end of this year). You know precisely
what you have to do and when it has to be done by.
If the goal is to lose 10 pounds by the end of the year, we need
an action plan to get us to this goal and to make it happen. In
this case the action plan may be to reduce our chocolate intake
and increase the amount of fruits and vegetables we consume. The
action plan is made up of a series of milestones. For example, if
there are 5 months until the end of the year then our milestones
would be to lose 2 pounds each month.
Little Steps
You may have a big goal such as “To have an income in excess
of £100,000 a year by the time I am 35” (notice the
goal is specific in both the timescale and the amount and does not
put an upper limit on your earning potential.)
This goal can be very daunting to look at, perhaps even enough
for you to give up and not strive to achieve it. To overcome this,
you break your goal down into a number of smaller, more manageable
steps.
Any large goal can be broken down into a number of sub-goals, which
can then be broken down even further if necessary. Each of the sub-goals
has an associated action plan with it. Using our income goal from
above, sub-goals could be to understand taxation, to understand
investment, to start your own company, and so on.
Smaller goals are easier for you to handle, and help you to stay
on course to your main goal. You also get the satisfaction of regularly
having successes and achieving goals, which does wonders for your
belief in yourself.
All of your major goals and their associated sub-goals and action
plans need to be regularly reviewed – ideally daily. This
ensures you remain focussed on your goals and instantly know if
you start to drift away from your target. It allows you to adjust
your goals and action plan according to whether things are working
quicker or slower than planned. It also prevents you from repeating
actions and carrying out tasks that are not necessary. It keeps
the goals in the forefront of your mind, and does not allow you
to forget about them.
Achieving our goals is something we all want to do, but it involves
work. Rarely will they be given to us on a silver platter by a servant
on bended knee. Achievement requires Knowing, drive and commitment,
combined with careful and meticulous planning and a firm belief
in ourselves. With unwavering belief and commitment there is nothing
that you cannot achieve. Everything and anything is within your
grasp – if you are willing to make the commitment to achieving
it.
If you enjoyed this, check out the Achieving
Your Goals audio CD and program your powerful subconscious for
the success and achievement you desire.
To find out the secrets of success and how you can achieve your
dreams, visit Success
For Goal Setting. The Success For Goal Setting program is an
ebook specially designed to guide you through discovering what you
want and then teaching you incredibly powerful tools for achieving
them. Check it out today and see how you could soon be living your
dreams.
(c) 2003 Jason Johns
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